Arkalalah Madness

I don't fully understand why I love the crazy town-wide festival that takes place in Ark City, Kansas every October, but love it I do. I'm sure it has something to do with the deliciously fatty food that seems never-ending. Or maybe it's the numerous silly events, like the races and egg-toss competitions, the high school band shows, or the ridiculous coronation of the "Queen Alalah." (Yup, you read that right.)

But I think what really makes me look forward to this crazy event is the idea of spending a weekend hanging out with family and amazing friends.

I am not a native Ark Cityan (Ark Cityite?), so it was rather late in my life that I first experienced the awesomeness/ridiculousness that is Arkalalah. When Matt first took me to his hometown for this festival, I was a little skeptical. Observing the coronation of Queen Alalah as one of my first Arkalalah events further convinced me that this was some weird Kansas thing that I would never understand. But as I watched an entire town (and many surrounding towns) come together to celebrate traditions and old-fashioned family fun, I kind of started to get it.

Plus, the fair food really is spectacular.

This year, Matt's high school class was gathering for their ten-year reunion. Most classes choose to host the reunions during Arkalalah, since so many people return to town for the festival anyway. The idea of seeing old classmates stimulated a mild curiosity in Matt, but we pretty much just used the reunion as an excuse to enjoy eating way too much food while visiting with family and friends.

We flew out after work on Thursday, and we were prepared to take in the fair early Friday morning. I enjoyed delicious chili, a chocolate banana on a stick, and ROASTED CORN!

I developed a little bit of an obsession with roasted corn on this trip. This is the first of two trips to a corn booth. Considering I was I little more reserved with my eating this time round, that's pretty crazy.

But as I mentioned above, the real purpose of this trip was to visit family and friends. We spent the day chatting, catching up, and walking around the festival.

Our awesome friends, Dac and Alisha, and Matt. This will be the album cover when they decide to start a band.

Fire! Me and one of the nieces.

We spent a large part of the weekend hanging out with some of our closest friends. Matt has remained very (oddly) close to a group of guys he knew in high school, and the addition of wives has not diminished their love for each other. In fact, the wives' club has developed our own close friendships. Unfortunately, one of the couples is currently in Virginia (you may remember Tarl and Joy from here) and they were unable to attend the reunion. It was the perfect occasion for a group-wide skype!

Tarl.

The group.

The boys. Probably laughing at some boy joke.

Saturday in Ark City brought far too many people for my comfort. But we braved the crowds to take in the annual parade. One of our nieces is in her first year on the flag team, so we had to cheer her on in the parade and at the flag competition after.

Walking in the street. The sidewalks are lined with chairs of those preparing to watch the parade.

Look! It's our niece!

Ark City's flag team put on an awesome show!

Finally, it was time for the "main event." The boys prepared for the reunion by looking through old yearbooks:

While the ladies got prettied up and talked about baby stuff (John and Anna are expecting their first child any day now!).

Anna's belly.

Then we were off to the awkwardness that is a high-school reunion.

Disappointed in the beer selection. They've really become beer snobs in their old age.

Me and Alisha. I was very glad to have my friends there!

Conversation time.

Having fun?

Chatting with Bri. I actually know her, so that was cool.

Us.

I love this picture for many reasons. Mostly because it has two of my favorite ladies in it. But also because John is dancing like an idiot in the background (on purpose, of course).

Old roomies.

The wives were ready to leave while the men were still talking.

In the end, the reunion was a little weird, but the guys seemed to enjoy themselves.

So another Arkalalah has come and gone. I enjoyed the food (though we didn't imbibe quite as much as we have in years past) and the silly events (go band!) and the cool people, who I miss already.